David'Z RantZ ~~ The Name Game

I was at a friend's home recently, watching previews of upcoming sitcoms and dramatic TV series.

Michael J. Fox has a new show called The Michael J. Fox Show. Michael plays a guy named... Michael. Right before TMJFS on NBC's schedule is a comedy starring Sean Hayes, called Sean Saves the World. Predictably, Sean plays a character named... Sean.

I began a short verbal tirade against the practice, then realized that it would make a great post in the David'Z RantZ category on my blog.

Then I thought a little more. Didn't I already do that, on my old, retired David'Z RantZ blog? Yep. Almost five years ago! And here it is:

I'm sick of actors and actresses -- and don't correct me, I hate it when people refer to an actress as an actor -- who complain that the viewing public can't tell the actor/actress from the character he/she portrays. If they were really that concerned, maybe they'd stop using their real first names as the first names of their characters (usually in sitcoms)?

Lucille Ball was "Lucy" in every damned sitcom she did.

After being "Rob" and "Laura" on The Dick Van Dyke Show, Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore usually played characters named "Dick" and "Mary" respectively.

Sometimes the actors shared their entire name with their character, a device which worked best when the sitcoms delivered a Bizarro version of the actor's real life [The Jack Benny Show, Seinfeld, not so much The Jeff Foxworthy Show... ].

Sometimes I suppose it gave a sense of solidarity between the new show and the comedian's stand-up routine [Roseanne's "Roseanne Conner," as mentioned above, Ray Romano's "Ray Barone," Tim Allen's "Tim Taylor," and... Oh, hell, you come up with some!]

And didja know that Sally was one of the working titles for a sitcom that became Reba... once Reba McEntire was hired for the starring role?)

No big wrap-up there, fellow babies, as it was just an aside in a larger-- okay, longer -- post.

Thanks for your time.